5/5 Sajal G. 3 years ago on Google
In
the
time
of Frederick
William (1688),
shortly
after
the Thirty
Years'
War and
a
century
before
the
gate
was
constructed,
Berlin
was
a
small
walled
city
within
a star
fort with
several
named
gates: Spandauer Tor,
St.
Georgen
Tor,
Stralower
Tor, Cöpenicker Tor,
Neues
Tor,
and Leipziger Tor (see
map).
Relative
peace,
a
policy
of
religious
tolerance,
and
status
as
capital
of
the Kingdom
of
Prussia facilitated
the
growth
of
the
city.

The Berlin
Customs
Wall with
its
eighteen
gates
The
Brandenburg
Gate
was
not
part
of
the
old Berlin
Fortress,
but
one
of
eighteen
gates
within
the Berlin
Customs
Wall (German: Akzisemauer),
erected
in
the
1730s,
including
the
old
fortified
city
and
many
of
its
then
suburbs.
The
new
gate
was
commissioned
by Frederick
William
II
of
Prussia to
represent
peace
and
was
originally
named
the
Peace
Gate
(German: Friedenstor).[2] It
was
designed
by Carl
Gotthard
Langhans,
the
Court
Superintendent
of
Buildings,
and
built
between
1788
and
1791,
replacing
the
earlier
simple
guardhouses
which
flanked
the
original
gate
in
the
Customs
Wall.
The
gate
consists
of
twelve Doric columns,
six
to
each
side,
forming
five
passageways.
Citizens
were
originally
allowed
to
use
only
the
outermost
two
on
each
side.
Its
design
is
based
on
the Propylaea,
the
gateway
to
the Acropolis in Athens,
Greece,
and
is
consistent
with
Berlin's
history
of
architectural classicism (first, Baroque,
and
then neo-Palladian).
The
gate
was
the
first
element
of
a
"new
Athens
on
the
River
Spree"
by
architect
Langhans.[3] Atop
the
gate
is
a Quadriga,
a
chariot
drawn
by
four
horses
driven
by Victoria,
the
Roman
goddess
of
victory,
sculpted
by Johann
Gottfried
Schadow.
19th
and
early
20th
centuriesEdit
The
Brandenburg
Gate
has
played
different
political
roles
in
German
history.
After
the
1806
Prussian
defeat
at
the Battle
of
Jena-Auerstedt,
Napoleon
was
the
first
to
use
the
Brandenburg
Gate
for
a
triumphal
procession,[4] and
took
its
Quadriga
to
Paris.[5]
After
Napoleon's
defeat
in
1814
and
the
Prussian
occupation
of
Paris
by
General Ernst
von
Pfuel,
the
Quadriga
was
restored
to
Berlin.[6] It
was
now
redesigned
by Karl
Friedrich
Schinkel for
the
new
role
of
the
Brandenburg
Gate
as
a
Prussian
triumphal
arch.
The
goddess,
now
definitely
Victoria,
was
equipped
with
the
Prussian
eagle
and Iron
Cross on
her
lance
with
a
wreath
of
oak
leaves.[2]

Quadriga
on
Brandenburg
Gate
in
daylight
The
Quadriga
faces
east,
as
it
did
when
it
was
originally
installed
in
1793.
Only
the
royal
family
was
allowed
to
pass
through
the
central
archway,[5] as
well
as
members
of
the Pfuel family,
from
1814
to
1919.[7][8] The
Kaiser
granted
this
honour
to
the
family
in
gratitude
to
Ernst
von
Pfuel,
who
had
overseen
the
return
of
the
Quadriga
to
the
top
of
the
gate.[9] In
addition,
the
central
archway
was
also
used
by
the
coaches
of
ambassadors
on
the
single
occasion
of
their
presenting
their letters
of
credence to
council.

View
over
Pariser
Platz,
June
1945

Bernard
Montgomery and
Soviet
Marshals Zhukov and Rokossovsky leave
the
Brandenburg
Gate
on
12
July
1945
after
being
decorated
by
Montgomery
When
the Nazis ascended
to
power,
they
used
the
gate
as
a
party
symbol.
The
gate
survived World
War
II and
was
one
of
the
damaged
structures
still
standing
in
the
Pariser
Platz
ruins
in
1945
(another
being
the
Academy
of
Fine
Arts).
The
gate
was
badly
damaged
with
holes
in
the
columns
from
bullets
and
nearby
explosions.
One
horse's
head
from
the
original
quadriga
survived,
and
is
today
kept
in
the
collection
of
the Märkisches
Museum.
Cold
WarEdit
After
Germany's
surrender
and
the
end
of
the
war,
the
governments
of East
Berlin and West
Berlin restored
it
in
a
joint
effort.
The
holes
were
patched,
but
were
visible
for
many
years.
The
gate
was
located
in
the Soviet
occupation
zone,
directly
next
to
the
border
to
the
British
occupation
zone,
which
later
became
the
border
between
East
and
West
Berlin.
Vehicles
and
pedestrians
could
travel
freely
through
the
gate
until
the
day
after
construction
began
on
the Berlin
Wall on Barbed
Wire
Sunday,
13
August
1961.
West
Berli
2 people found this review helpful 👍
